Many structures are built using concrete, including, for instance, buildings, parking structures, apartments, condominiums, hotels, mixed-use structures, casinos, hospitals, medical buildings, government buildings, research/academic institutions, industrial buildings, malls, roads, bridges, pavement, tanks, reservoirs, silos, sports courts, and other structures.
Prestressed concrete is structural concrete in which internal stresses are introduced to reduce potential tensile stresses in the concrete resulting from applied loads; prestressing may be accomplished by post-tensioned prestressing or pre-tensioned prestressing. In post-tensioned prestressing, a tension member is tensioned after the concrete has attained a desired strength by use of a post-tensioning tendon. The post-tensioning tendon may include for example and without limitation, anchor assemblies, the tension member, and sheathes. Traditionally, a tension member is constructed of a material that can be elongated and may be a single or a multi-strand cable. Typically, the tension member may be formed from a metal or composite material, such as reinforced steel. The post-tensioning tendon conventionally includes an anchor assembly at each end. The post-tensioning tendon is fixedly coupled to a fixed anchor assembly positioned at one end of the post-tensioning tendon, the “fixed-end”, and stressed at the stressed anchor assembly positioned at the opposite end of the post-tensioning tendon, the “stressing-end” of the post-tensioning tendon.
Post-tension members are conventionally formed from a strand and a sheath. The strand is conventionally formed as a single or multi-strand metal cable. The strand is conventionally encapsulated within a polymeric sheath extruded thereabout to, for example, prevent or retard corrosion of the metal strand by protecting the metal strand from exposure to corrosive or reactive fluids. Likewise, the sheath may prevent or retard concrete from bonding to the strand and preventing or restricting movement of the sheath during post-tensioning. The sheath may be filled with grease to further limit the exposure of the metal strand and allow for increased mobility. Because the metal strand and the polymeric sheath are formed from different materials, the thermal expansion and contraction rates of the metal strand and polymeric sheath may differ. During conventional manufacturing, the sheaths are formed by hot extrusion over the metal strand. When the tension members are coiled for transport and storage, uneven thermal contraction may occur as the tendon cools. When installed as a post-tensioning tendon in a prestressed concrete member, cooling of the sheath may cause separation of the sheath from an anchorage, potentially exposing the metal strand to corrosive or reactive fluids.